For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open.
-Luke 8:17, NIV
Today, Nancy Ortberg–who worked at Willow Creek Church as staff as well as a Board member of the Willow Creek Association for nine years–dropped a bomb of a post about Rev. Bill Hybels’ alleged sexually inappropriate relationships* (read it here).
I call this a bombshell as it reveals some rather damning details, in my opinion, about how the alleged affair was investigated, what was found, and how that relationship was handled afterwards besides other issues.
Please read her statement in total (link here).
I want to highlight a few things about the reported fourteen year long sexual affair that was investigated.
Nancy writes what the Elders did for that investigation:
(1) Discovery of 1,150 emails between Bill and the woman over the previous two years. The Elders reviewed none for content.
I want that number to sink in:
ONE THOUSAND, ONE HUNDRED, AND FIFTY EMAILS!!!
I don’t think I have exchanged that many emails with my wife over the entire length of our four year marriage!
And that many emails were exchanged over only two years. This was between a woman and a megachurch celebrity, Rev Bill Hybels. Talk about MAJOR access!
What possible innocent explanation can you have to justify such a high frequency of communication between the two?
At this point, a wise elder would assume guilt until the content of said emails proved otherwise, in my opinion. If nothing else, this signifies an unhealthy emotional relationship by virtue of the sheer volume of their communication.
The fact that the elders did NOT insist on seeing the content of those emails as a condition of clearing Hybels’ name says to me that they didn’t really want to know the truth.
Sure, the accusing woman who alleged the fourteen year affair with Hybels retracted her accusation when it went public. However, she made it clear that is what she would do if it did go public.
But that is not all…
Nancy Ortberg writes:
The woman alleging an affair with Bill said that she was suicidal, both to Leanne and to Bill. The church Elders allowed Bill to stay in an unsupervised counseling relationship with her, while neither her husband nor Bill’s wife was made aware of the situation.
Nothing to see here folks…move along! Yeah, right.
This is ridiculous!
The Willow Creek Church elders really failed their church and the spouses of those involved in this situation by allowing such counseling to happen between Bill and this woman.
I might even go as far as to say they enabled the relationship between Bill and this woman by NOT intervening and stopping those sessions.
Yet that is not all…
She writes,
Bill also admitted that the woman alleging an affair had spent many nights at the Hybels’ home when Lynne [Bill Hybels’ wife] was out of town.
Do really need to hear anything more?
If Rev Bill Hybels did indeed admit to allowing this woman to sleep over “many nights” with his wife out of town, are you really that naive to think such were just innocent sleepovers?!
I am angered by this and disgusted.
The anger is towards Christian leaders who continue to fail faithful spouses and those who are sexually harassed by protecting cheaters, which it appears from Nancy Ortberg’s account Bill Hybels is.
And I am angered by how this besmirches the name of Christ and His Church.
It is a cliche in our culture sadly about the powerful pastor who abuses his power to engage in adultery. I don’t buy Bill Hybels’ feigned naivete about these dynamics and dangers for one moment.
Finally, I am disgusted by the Christian spin and Public Relations maneuvering that has already taken place in this matter.
Instead of coming clean and open to the light, the Willow Creek Church leaders seem to prefer darkness. It angers me, too, how they turned on the Ortbergs and others who dared to shine the light on such serious sin in the camp.
My hope is the spotlight continues to shine brightly on this matter until the truth comes out and the victims in this matter experience some sense of justice. The church needs to do better!
*I have done previous posts on this situation: here, here, and here. The second post includes a link to a statement from Nancy’s husband, John Ortberg.
What an insightful post! Thank you.
Nicely summarized DM. I agree with you. In my opinion no further testimony or proof is needed to logically and reasonably assume that Bill Hybels is guilty of clergy sexual misconduct and adultery.
The new thing I learned from Nancy Ortberg’s post was that Bill has personally admitted (i.e. *confessed*) “that the woman alleging an affair had spent many nights at the Hybels’ home when Lynne [Bill Hybels’ wife] was out of town.” What more do we need to know? This is so obvious to any adult. And the existence of an impartial documented history of 2 years worth of 1150 emails between Bill and the other woman is very strong corroboration.
I hope that additional victims (if any) will feel empowered to come forward because they have a right to be heard. The evidence at this point suggests that his behavior is an entrenched, long-term sin pattern that he has carefully managed behind his public image… with the pathetic enablement of other leaders on staff. That needs to be exposed.
Well written, so very sorry it was necessary.
I responded elsewhere with the following view.
I was so sorry to learn about all of this yesterday, Friday 13th, and Willow Creek Church. On our travels last summer one of the ‘high points’ for my husband was to attend Willow Creek Church. My husband was so proud that he got to met ‘the Bill Hybels’ and was so happy that he got to talk to him and have his picture taken with ‘Bill Hybels’. This is ALL so disappointing and disheartening. If you can’t trust your pastor who can you trust? “To all those women that have been psychologically damaged, what a needless tradegy”. My heart goes out to you, all of you, by coming forward you have contributed to breaking this cycle of abuse. One more narcissistic, egotistical, Out of control, self-serving man in a position of trust has been stopped in his tracts. This has not only damaged women but also affected men, like my husband, who looked up to Bill Hybels as a positive role model. It is a sad day for others in a position of leadership at Willow Creek to have been slow to address this and take definitive steps against it early on! My assessment is that the entire leadership there at Willow Creek needs to be held accountable and the base must face this issue with appropriate consequences. The whole church is in our thoughts and prayers.
Confused about IT email retention anyone?
If emails were deleted, how does anyone know there were 1150 of them? There’s a record of deleted emails between sender and recipient? Don’t know how Gmail or Outlook or any other email client stores information about deleted emails once deleted.
What pastor has time to email a woman 1,150 times?
Exactly.
Especially a pastor/head of such a large organization. People don’t get that much personal attention and counseling! There’s a staff for that~